Putin arrives in North Korea for first visit in 24 years as anti-Western alignment deepens CNN

CNN
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the country North Korea For a rare visit that signaled the deepening alignment between the two countries and Moscow's need to procure weapons from Pyongyang to sustain its war against Ukraine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally greeted Putin on the plane's ramp when he arrived in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang early Wednesday morning local time, video footage of his arrival showed.

State media RIA reported that the two leaders spoke animatedly to each other for several minutes before arriving in their motorcade.

According to North Korean state media KCNA, the pair then rode together to the Kumsusan State Guest House where Putin will be staying and the two leaders “exchanged their innermost thoughts and opened their minds to more definitely develop (North Korea-Russia) common aspirations of the peoples of the two countries.” And a relationship consistent with desire.”

After reaching the guesthouse, they had a “friendly chat”, KCNA added.

The streets of Pyongyang were decorated with Russian flags and posters ahead of Putin's first visit to the country since 2000. this week Inspection It is a rare foreign visit for Putin since he launched his invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and a key moment for Kim, who has not hosted another world leader in his politically isolated country since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Putin's visit will be closely watched around the world and is expected to further strengthen the growing partnership between the two powers, founded on their shared hostility to the West and driven by Moscow's need for munitions for the war in Ukraine.

After his visit to North Korea, Putin is scheduled to travel to Hanoi to showcase communist-ruled Vietnam's relationship with Russia, which is likely to upset the United States.

Putin's visit to North Korea will have a “very eventful” agenda, his aide Yuri Ushakov told a news conference on Monday. Both leaders plan to sign a new strategic partnership, Ushakov said.

Ushakov emphasized that the agreement is not provocative or aimed against other countries, but is intended to ensure greater stability in Northeast Asia. He said the new agreement would replace documents signed between Moscow and Pyongyang in 1961, 2000 and 2001.

Satellite images from Planet Labs and Maxar Technology show preparations for a large parade in Pyongyang's central square. One image shows a grandstand erected on the east side of Kim Il Sung Square, where all major North Korean parades are held. In an earlier photo taken on June 5, North Koreans are seen practicing marching formation.

US national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that the Biden administration itself was “not concerned about the trip” but added, “What we are concerned about is the deep relationship between these two countries.”

The United States, South Korea and other countries have accused North Korea Provide substantial military aid to Russia's war effort in recent months, while observers have expressed concern that Moscow may be violating international sanctions to aid Pyongyang's development. The nascent military satellite program. Both countries deny arms exports to North Korea.

Putin's visit was repaid by Kim Last SeptemberWhen the North Korean leader traveled by armored train to Russia's Far East, there was a stop for an inspection at a factory that makes fighter jets and a rocket-launch facility.

It also comes as tensions remain on the Korean peninsula amid heightened international concern about the North Korean leader's intentions as he escalates bellicose language and abandons a longstanding policy of seeking peaceful reconciliation with South Korea.

In the second such incident in the past two weeks, North Korean troops fired warning shots on Tuesday after operating in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Kim hailed the countries' future of “meaningful relations and close comradeship” in a message to Putin last week marking Russia's national day on June 12.

“Our people give full support and solidarity to the successful work of the Russian army and people,” Kim said, according to the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

In an article in the same newspaper published early Tuesday local time, Putin thanked Pyongyang for showing “unwavering support” for Russia's war in Ukraine and said the two countries were “prepared to face the collective West's ambitions.”

He said the two are “actively advancing their multilateral partnership” and will “build alternative trade and settlement systems not controlled by the West, jointly oppose illegal unilateral restrictions, and shape an equal and indivisible security architecture in Eurasia.”

The meeting comes just days after the Group of Seven (G7) summit of advanced economies in Italy attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, where Western leaders reiterated their continued support for Ukraine and agreed to use profits from frozen Russian assets. 50 billion dollars in debt In a war-torn country.

It follows a Kiev-backed International Peace Conference More than 100 countries and organizations participated in the weekend, aimed at rallying support for Zelensky's vision for peace, which calls for the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.

Putin rebuffed those efforts a day before the rally by offering his own peace terms, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from four partially occupied territories and Kiev withdrawing its bid to join NATO — seen as a nonstarter by Ukraine and its allies.

Putin's visit to North Korea is widely seen as an opportunity to bolster Kim's support for his war — a goal that could become increasingly urgent as long-delayed American military aid for Ukraine comes online.

Last month, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told American lawmakers that North Korea's provision of weapons and missiles, as well as Iranian drones, allowed Russian forces to “get back on their feet”.

Between August and February, Pyongyang sent about 6,700 containers to Russia, which can accommodate more than 3 million rounds of 152 mm artillery shells or more than 500,000 rounds of 122 mm multiple rocket launchers, South Korea's defense ministry said earlier this year.

Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied such arms transfers, with a senior North Korean official last month calling such accusations an “absurd paradox.”

Asked about concerns that Russia is considering handing over sensitive technology to Pyongyang in exchange for these goods, a Kremlin spokesman said last week that the countries' “prospect for the development of bilateral relations” is “deep” and “should not be a cause for concern and should not be challenged by anyone.” It doesn't and shouldn't.”

Putin last visited North Korea in 2000, his first year as Russian president, where he met with Kim's predecessor and late father, Kim Jong Il.

His trips to North Korea and then Vietnam come as the Russian leader appears keen to reassert himself on the world stage, moving away from an image of isolation in the wake of his widely condemned invasion of Ukraine by drawing in like-minded partners. .

Putin at last month State visit to BeijingIn which he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping made a clear acknowledgment of their shared opposition to what they see as a US-led world order.

Moscow last week hosted foreign ministers from countries including China, Iran, South Africa and Brazil for a meeting of the BRICS group of major developing economies.

US national security spokesman John Kirby called Putin's latest trip an “interesting” one after his re-election on Monday. Putin won a fifth term in a contest earlier this year Without real opposition.

Putin's move to strengthen ties with North Korea has also been a boon for Kim, who has remained dogged by years of international sanctions over his illegal nuclear weapons program.

The visit by a leader of a permanent member of the UN Security Council would provide a signal to Kim's domestic audience about his global influence – and an opportunity to press for desperately needed economic and technical assistance from Moscow.

Russia previously supported international sanctions and a UN-backed investigation into North Korea's illegal weapons program, including the testing of a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile that could theoretically reach the US mainland.

But Russia's apparent reliance on North Korea and growing friction with the West appear to have thrown that momentum away. In March, Moscow Vetoed a UN resolution To renew independent monitoring of North Korea's violations of Security Council sanctions.

Gaon Bae, Michael Mitsanas, Katharina Krebs, Maria Knight, Yunjung Seo, Betsy Klein, and Paul P. Additional reporting by Murphy